Fluvial sequences as evidence for landscape and climatic evolution in the Late Cenozoic: A synthesis of data from IGCP 518
Introduction
International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) Project 518, ‘Fluvial Sequences as Evidence for Landscape and Climatic Evolution in the Late Cenozoic’, was conceived as a follow-up to Project 449 (‘Global Correlation of Late Cenozoic Fluvial Deposits’), which ran during 2000–2004 (Bridgland et al., 2007a; Table 1). The purpose was to build upon the programme of the earlier project, which had as its primary objective the compilation of data on fluvial sedimentary records worldwide (Fig. 1). The original aims included searching for unforeseen patterns in the fluvial sedimentary archives and consideration of what these records can reveal about climatic fluctuation and landscape evolution. Research of this type can thus complement other initiatives (such as the TOPO-EUROPE programme [Cloetingh et al., 2007] and IGCP Project 559, ‘Crustal Architecture and Landscape Evolution’, which began in 2008) that aim to address similar objectives using other types of evidence.
This special issue derives from the September 2005 international meeting of IGCP 518, hosted by Harran University in Şanlıurfa, southeast Turkey. The associated field excursion provided an opportunity to introduce participants to the evidence emerging on the long-timescale landscape evolution of this region (Fig. 2, Fig. 3a). Indeed, southeast Turkey straddles the boundary between the Arabian Platform and Anatolia, crustal provinces with dramatically different properties, such as composition (the Arabian Platform being underlain by a thick mafic layer at the base of the crust that is absent in Anatolia), crustal thickness, and heat flow, which are reflected in dramatically different topography (the land surface rises to ~ 4000 m a.s.l. (above sea-level) in eastern Anatolia but seldom exceeds ~ 500 m a.s.l. in the Arabian Platform interior). Several articles on the excursion sites have since been published, covering the Euphrates valley in the northern Arabian Platform between the Atatürk Dam and the Syrian border (Demir et al., 2007a, Demir et al., 2008), the Tigris valley around Diyarbakır (Bridgland et al., 2007b, Westaway et al., 2008), eastern Anatolia around Elazığ (Seyrek et al., 2008a, Demir et al., 2009-this issue), and the landscape forming by progressive fluvial entrenchment along the East Anatolian Fault Zone (Westaway et al., 2006a). A summary of the meeting and excursion has been provided by Kinnaird (2007).
It was always evident that the compilation of fluvial archives would build on the already well-researched body of European data. There was also a growing understanding before IGCP 449 began that the near ubiquitous occurrence of fluvial terrace sequences within Europe signifies progressive regional uplift, despite most regions involved being far from plate boundary zones (e.g., Antoine, 1994, Van den Berg, 1994, Maddy, 1997a, Antoine et al., 2000, Bridgland, 2000). Both IGCP projects have facilitated the dissemination of important European data of this type, much of which was previously difficult to access in the English language. In particular, there have been syntheses of research from the former Soviet Union (Matoshko et al., 2002, Matoshko et al., 2004, Alekseev and Drouchits, 2004, Patyk-Kara and Postolenko, 2004) and from former Soviet Bloc countries in central and eastern Europe (e.g., Tyráček et al., 2004, Gábris and Nádor, 2007, Starkel et al., 2007, Zagorchev, 2007). Coverage is extended through the papers by Matoshko et al. (2009-this issue) and Tyráček and Havlíček (2009-this issue) in the present volume.
A key outcome of this worldwide compilation has been the documentation of comparable river terrace sequences on every continent (Fig. 1) except Antarctica, although they are not universally present. They are not, of course, expected in regions of Late Cenozoic subsidence, such as the Lower Rhine (Brunnacker et al., 1982, Ruegg, 1994) and the Ganges Basin (Sinha et al., 2007, Sinha et al., in press). They are also absent from the Archaean cratons, the ancient nuclei of the continents (Westaway et al., 2003, Bridgland and Westaway, 2007a, Bridgland and Westaway, 2007b), consistent with the long-held view that such regions are ‘ultra-stable’. However, these findings overturn the notion that climatic zones have a major influence on this aspect of landscape evolution; i.e. that river terrace sequences do not occur in the tropics but instead only characterize higher latitudes (cf. Büdel, 1977, Büdel, 1982). This view, refuted by evidence of terraced valleys in the tropics (see below), may well have arisen because many tropical regions coincide with Archaean cratons. Thus, peninsular India and much of Amazonia, Australia, and central and southern Africa lack the incised, terraced river valleys that characterize regions of younger crust; they instead have more subdued fluvial landscapes with ancient (Pliocene–Early Pleistocene) deposits close to present valley floors (Westaway et al., 2003, Bridgland and Westaway, 2007a, Bridgland and Westaway, 2007b). The latter situation is not confined to the tropics; for instance, the Vaal sequence in the Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa, is warm-temperate. Conversely, long-timescale fluvial terrace staircases are present in non-cratonic parts of Amazonia (e.g., Westaway, 2006a) and equatorial Africa (Veldkamp et al., 2007).
Section snippets
Project rationale
Fluvial archives have a global distribution, being represented on all continents and across all climatic zones, except for the polar regions and the driest deserts. Long-timescale fluvial terrace staircases are indeed found in parts of the high arctic that have not been glaciated during the Pleistocene, such as northeastern Siberia (Fig. 1). Terraces are also typically well developed at high temperate latitudes because that is where the effects of fluctuation between interglacial optima and
Relations between long-timescale fluvial sequences, vertical crustal motions, and crustal properties
Most well-preserved and well-dated fluvial sequences fall within the last million years. That is the period when rivers can be seen to have been responding to the 100 ka eccentricity climate cycles, which became dominant at ~ 800 ka (e.g., Ruddiman et al., 1986, Mudelsee and Schulz, 1997), following the ‘Mid-Pleistocene Revolution’ (MPR). It was established decades ago that the MPR coincided with a characteristic change in landscape morphology in Europe, with rivers going on to form narrow,
Contents of the special issue
The issue contains 10 papers. First, reflecting the proximity of its study area to the September 2005 field excursion itinerary, is the analysis by Demir et al. (2009-this issue) of the terrace staircase of the River Murat, one of the principal tributaries of the Upper Euphrates in eastern Anatolia. Fluvial terraces are preserved in this study area due to burial beneath erosion-resistant basalt. Their disposition, combined with dating of the basalt, indicates a high uplift rate (~ 0.5 mm a−1)
Conclusions
IGCP 518 has now ended, but the body of long-timescale Late Cenozoic fluvial data compiled during this and predecessor project 449 will continue to grow, under the auspices of Focus 1 of FLAG, the Fluvial Archives Group. Meanwhile, synthesis of the newly collected data suggests a potential new paradigm in the notion that landscape evolution, and in particular the development of the topographic relief that characterizes mature valleys in large parts of the world, has been an indirect response to
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all those who have contributed to IGCPs 449 and 518 through attendance at meetings and field excursions and by contributing manuscripts to the succession of special issues that have originated as a result of these projects (Table 1). We also thank all those who have given their time as meeting organizers, field excursion leaders, and reviewers of manuscripts for these publications, including the present one. DB and RW are particularly grateful for the support provided
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